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KMID : 1037320160090010131
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Korean Journal of Infant Mental Health
2016 Volume.9 No. 1 p.131 ~ p.154
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An Exploratory Study on the Effect of Unstructured Small-group Play Therapy on Social Development of Children with Developmental Delay
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Kim Ji-Shin
Kim A-Yeon
Kim Hyun-Jin
Min G-Rea
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Abstract
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This study investigated the effects of unstructured small-group play therapy on social development of children with developmental delay. Subjects were five preschool and elementary school students. They were divided into two groups based on their level of social development and play therapy was administered to each group for 20 and 32 sessions respectively. For Group 1 of two children with intellectual disabilities or autism spectrum disorders, the sessions were conducted like parallel play at the early stage and the children started to become interested in sound and movement of their partners over time. After the session, they showed positive changes such as imitation of their partners’ play and language expressions, invitation to their play, and increase in behaviors to attract their partners’ attention. Group 2 consisted of three children who had developmental delay in language, cognition, and social development. They had desire to play together, but the range of their interest was limited and they were inexperienced in how to play with others. At the early stage of the therapy, they had lots of conflicts with play partners. As the sessions went, however, their use of proper language and expression of their needs and emotions increased while conflicts between play partners decreased. These findings imply that encouragement of the children’s initiative by the therapist in the natural play setting improved the children’s understanding of and adaptation to social contexts. This study is of significance in that it is a basic study that conducted unstructured small-group play therapy in consideration of characteristics of children with developmental delay and explored its effectiveness.
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KEYWORD
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developmental delay, developmental disability, unstructured small-group play therapy, enhancement of social skills
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